How did you earn your first buck?

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Thanks for sharing. That's quite inspirational.

Thanks, but it's not like I had much choice. It was do what I was told, or get my butt beat. Ahhh, the good old days, when kids actually did what they were told and respected their elders. OR ELSE.

Looking back, though, it sure prepared me for a lot of hard, nasty jobs over time. I did things that Mike Rowe might shy away from, but it was honest work. Thanks to my grandparents for raising me that way, may they both rest in peace.

[B_J 2,752]

My dad and uncle used to roof houses as a side job. So, my first job, along with my cousin, was roofing houses on the weekend during the summer. Every job we did we had the option of how much we got paid - either $100 or minimum wage, which was $3.35/hr at the time. First job, we took the minimum wage, so instead of $100, we made $100.50.

I also remember one job we did for an elderly lady who had her roof damaged by a storm. We were informed that on that job we were "working out of the goodness of our hearts." Translation: We didn't get paid. But the lady did make lunch for us each day.

[El Rey 4]

Have you also played jai alai?

At 16, I was requested by a neighbor in Cebu City to be her son's academic tutor for Php 50 per hour.

Nope, I didn’t play jai lai (reckon no pure Filipino ever did), albeit I wagered on it at the fronton in Manila.

My first full time job was as a clerk at the office of a congressman from Ilocos Sur. At that era when the daily minimum wage was 4.00 PHP, I was paid a nice sum of 6.00 PHP a day. How I wish I was paid 50.00 PHP per hour though!

The Philippine Congress building and the jai alai fronton were close to each other at that time and on some paydays I would take that short jeepney drive to the fronton. I’d put some money on Chaparro, a very able pelotari who could catch a speeding goatskin on the fly with his cesta and hurl it back at 280 kmph. Sometimes, Chaparro would purposely lose a game (I thought) prompting me to yell “Chaparro gago!” and he would come to the stands and look for the source of the cat call shouting “donde esta, donde esta mono?”. Good old Basque, this Chaparro.

[TiklingGuy 211]

At age 13 i was paid to give high school girls pleasure. I was paid by check and was strictly referrals only. Since it was by appointment only it gave me alot of freedom to pick and choose my office hours. I was able to get invested in some mutual funds that stayed pretty steady over the years.

I'm full of sh!t My first job was a firework stand at age 13. Except for mowin the yard.

[Pangga&Shine 7]

the first time i earned money was when i was in 3rd grade and i sell in school. I bought a pack of menthol candies for Php3.25 and sell it and gathered five pesos a pack. I made Php1.75 a pack. Then it get bigger i sell chocolates, biscuits. Back then it was still allowed to sell in school. In 5th grade i thought of cooking my own product so i made yema and maja blanca and sell it in school. Then in high school not anymore allowed to sell food in school so i buy stationaries and sell it on my classmates. Back then writing letters and philately was so popular. Always grabbing the chance whats "in" just to make money. Then time comes that not anymore allowed to sell anything in school so had to stop selling.

Its just so good to reminisce selling during class and my classmates were always so excited whats in my bag.

[rlogan 2,036]

Yeah, I remember reading about that, oh-so-many years ago on a PBS documentary. Seems you were lacking the proper equipment, then not enough weapons to satisfy your customers. Glad that whole newspaper thing worked out for ya!

I had 13,000 customers. But I had a bike so I could finish before supper.

[Calypso 464]

I also remember one job we did for an elderly lady who had her roof damaged by a storm. We were informed that on that job we were "working out of the goodness of our hearts." Translation: We didn't get paid. But the lady did make lunch for us each day.

I was working in a private high school and there were times when the principal would tell the teachers to report to school during weekends and holidays with no extra pay. She'd just say that "teachers don't work for money, but in the name of service." I found it disrespectful because we are taxpaying licensed professionals. There wasn't even free lunch like yours from a kind lady when in fact that school was one of the most expensive academic institutions in Cebu City.

The Philippine Congress building and the jai alai fronton were close to each other at that time and on some paydays I would take that short jeepney drive to the fronton. I'd put some money on Chaparro, a very able pelotari who could catch a speeding goatskin on the fly with his cesta and hurl it back at 280 kmph. Sometimes, Chaparro would purposely lose a game (I thought) prompting me to yell "Chaparro gago!" and he would come to the stands and look for the source of the cat call shouting "donde esta, donde esta mono?". Good old Basque, this Chaparro.

That's quite colorful.

the first time i earned money was when i was in 3rd grade and i sell in school. I bought a pack of menthol candies for Php3.25 and sell it and gathered five pesos a pack. I made Php1.75 a pack. Then it get bigger i sell chocolates, biscuits. Back then it was still allowed to sell in school. In 5th grade i thought of cooking my own product so i made yema and maja blanca and sell it in school. Then in high school not anymore allowed to sell food in school so i buy stationaries and sell it on my classmates. Back then writing letters and philately was so popular. Always grabbing the chance whats "in" just to make money. Then time comes that not anymore allowed to sell anything in school so had to stop selling.

Its just so good to reminisce selling during class and my classmates were always so excited whats in my bag.

I had classmates who would sell stuff in the classroom, too. Did you also carry hilaw na mangga (green, raw mangoes)? Some Pinays really like that.

Superstix, Cloud 9, Big Bang, Safari were some of the bestsellers then and so were homemade polvoron and pastillas de leche.

[Eternal Love 2]

I was grade 1 when I used to bring bayabas ( guava ) in the school and 2 of my classmates were asking me to give them some but I told them to buy it ( we still have the square Lapu-lapu coins before.ha ha ha ha ) That was when I started bringing some other fruits to school ( we have a a lot of fruit trees at home ) and some other times I sold vegetables to my teachers in later grade levels

[TnJ 131]

I mowed the lawn and helped mom clean house until 15. First job out of the house was fast food at minimum wage.

[reginakrys 33]

Picking white hairs from my grandma's head at 25 cents per hair. Minus 25 cents if I picked black hair.